What should I look out for when buying used car?

geraint83

Hi,

I'm looking to change my car in the next few days. I currently have a 55 plate Focus with 43,000 miles on the clock, and have seen a 59 plate Focus Style with 9,000 on the clock for just under £8,000.

This price compares very favourably with the other cars I've seen but I'm worried that I'm missing something - doing only 9,000 miles in just over 1.5 years isn't much (I usually do around 11,000 miles a year!) doesn't seem like much, and it has a cheaper asking price than some other Focuses with higher mileages.

What should I look for / ask when I go and see the car?

Thanks!

spiro

Low mileage may just reflect the previous owner - retired person who uses it occasionally, 2nd family car only used for school run.

Buying from garage or privately?

Check car was serviced after 12 months because some people seem to think 12months or 12000 miles means the longer of the 2 not the shorter.

Horizon81

If you don't mind me asking, why do you want rid of your current car? I've never understood the logic of getting rid of a perfectly good car just because it's getting a bit old.
Buying a car, new or second hand, is such a lottery I find it's a case of better the devil you know!

MX5huggy

Has it been written off? Get a HPI done on it.

But I am with Horizon why?

[Deleted User]

Could be unrecorded accident damaged and repaired. I'm seeing lots of barely a year old cars for sale in my area by a scrappy with huge crash damage but with unrecorded in the description.

forgotmyname

Keep it for another 43000 miles and save yourself some money.

harveybobbles

The style is a the base model that no one will want when you try to sell it on...

geraint83

Thanks for your responses.

spiro:
Thanks - will check to make sure that it was serviced at 12 months. Car is being sold by a non-Ford dealership - probably part exchanged recently, so maybe that's reflected in the price because they want to shift it.

Horizon81:
My current car has been playing up for over a year now. Every so often it'll stall on me when the revs drop too far down when idling. Two separate garages have looked at the car for me - no fault codes are ever registered and they've checked everything and can't find any problem with the car. They've told me that the car is ok (I guess they think that it's all in my head - they couldn't reproduce the stalling while on a test run), so I've decided to get rid of the car now in case the problem gets worse.

MX5huggy:
Wasn't sure whether a HPI would be necessary if purchasing from a dealership chain - will consider this, thanks.

harveybobbles:
I know that the style is the base model but it's all I can afford at the moment - don't have the cash to stretch to a Zetec, which is considerably more expensive.


For info, car has supposedly had two previous owners.

Also, I've been looking on Autotrader and there are a few 'Trade' adverts for cars with a similar asking price and similar mileage, so maybe it has something to do with desirability of the car and age (just over 1.5 years).

geraint83

Car supposedly has tinted glass. Is this the same as privacy glass (i.e. blacked-out windows)?

oldagetraveller

geraint83 wrote: »

Car supposedly has tinted glass. Is this the same as privacy glass (i.e. blacked-out windows)?

No it's not. The gangster glass is much darker.:D e.g. Spectacle lenses can be supplied with a "tint" as opposed to sunglasses which are darker.

geraint83

oldagetraveller - good, thanks for that info!